Dance With Somebody
by milomariano
Summary: What happens when you realise you have been ruining your life for the last 2 years? Jess brings it to Rory's attention that she has made a lot of mistakes and has to start rebuilding herself. A literati story of Rory rediscovering herself and who she should be, with some help from Jess.
1. chapter 1

"I'm leaving," Jess said suddenly. Rory followed him out, glaring at Logan.

"He had better not come back out here!" He yelled.

Rory looked taken aback by his tone. "This isn't him. He's having trouble with him family, he's had a lot to drink-"

"Rory, what's going on?" Jess used the same tone.

"I told you, he's having trouble with him family, he has to-"

"I don't care about him! Okay? Screw him! What's going on with you?"

"What- what do you mean?"

Jess rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean. Living with your grandparents, being in the DAR? No Yale? _Why did you drop out of Yale?!_ "

Rory had tears in her eyes. "It's complicated! You don't know!"

"It's not! It's not _complicated_! I know you, Rory. This isn't you! What's going on with _you._ "

Rory paused, and Jess moved his head to look in her eyes. "I don't know... I - I don't know." She looked up at him just as he turned to leave.

"Maybe we'll... maybe we'll catch up. At a better time?"

Rory nodded, and Jess started to walk away, before turning back again. "Happy Birthday, by the way. You birthday was a couple weeks ago?" He walked out, and sat in his car, before seeing Rory storm back inside.

He couldn't make out what was said, but he guessed that Rory and Logan were yelling at each other because he could hear yelling even from in the club. Within a few minutes, Logan stormed out followed by Rory, and after some more indistinguishable yelling Logan threw some money at her and walked off to his car. He sped off, and Rory was left crying on a park bench trying to contact a taxi company. Jess wanted to help her, but he knew he should have left by now and Rory shouldn't know what he had just seen. He drove off slowly, just as a cab pulled up and Rory got in.

Rory got out of the cab at Hartford and headed into the DAR function that her grandmother forced upon her. Storming in, she caught her grandmother's eye. Emily rushed towards her with an angry look on her face. "Young lady, where have you been? You almost missed the party!"

"No Grandma. You mean, I missed your _inspection_ of me before the party!"

"Those inspections are for your own good! You're not even wearing the dress!"

"I didn't have time to go home and put it on."

"You spend far too much time at Paris' house. When your father gets home, we'll go over the house rules."

"Don't you mean my _grand_ father?"

"You're becoming more like your mother every passing day!"

"And you're becoming more like _your_ mother every passing day! Besides, I don't stay with Paris 3 nights a week! I've been at Logan's! And besides I would have to be living with you to go over house rules, now wouldn't I?"

Emily looked angry but also confused. "You _do_ live here, what are you talking about? Rory, come back here!" Rory had stormed off back to the house, and she got a few things into a duffel bag and headed out. That was when she realised that she had no place to stay, but she followed her nerve and took out _The Subsect._ Inside, in his neat blocky handwriting, Jess had written his cell and office number. Rory took out her cell phone, knowing that Jess would be close to Philadelphia by now.

"Hello?" Jess' voice came on the second ring. Rory opened her mouth but couldn't bring herself to answer. "Hello? Look, I'm driving, so whoever you are make a noise or I'm hanging up."

"Jess..." Rory's voice filled the phone, and Jess got a warm feeling in him knowing that she used the number he gave her, that he was needed.

"Rory, hi. Why didn't you say anything?"

"I don't know what to say. I moved out of the grandparents place. Left the DAR."

"Rory, that's so great! I'm really happy for you. So, why did you call?"

"I didn't know who else to call, I..." her voice died away.

"Rory?"

"I don't have a place to live," she finally admitted, and Jess sighed.

"Do you want to come to Philly? It's a bit late, but if you're not too tired and your desperate, I can wait for you and let you in. You know the address, I put it in the book too."

"Thanks so much, Jess. You have no idea how much this means to me."

"Yeah, I do. Now get your butt in the car, I don't want to be up all night." She laughed lightly at this, and got in the car.

"See you in a couple hours," She said, hanging up.

As she drove to Philly, Rory thought of all the ways this could go wrong, but she knew she had to put them out of her head in order for this trip to be beneficial. She had to get a job, she had to enrol back to Yale, she had to find a roof to put over her head.

The 4 hour drive went really quickly, and Rory decided to go to the Liquor Store and pick up some scotch. She didn't normally drink that, but it was strong and that was what she needed. After buying it and shoving it in her duffel, she headed to the address on the book, which was apparently Jess' apartment.

"Hello?!" She called up the stairwell. "Jess?"

"Hold on, Rory. Jeez." He got some shoes on, then opened the door to let her in. What he wasn't expecting was a Rory shaped figure to come flying at him, embracing him in a massive hug. He was suprised at first, but then he returned the embrace.

"Thankyou so so sooo much for letting me stay, Jess! I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate -"

"Rory, just get inside. It's freezing out here, I'll show you the couch."

After a tour of the apartment, Rory settled herself in on the couch.

"Goodnight, Rory."

"Night Jess."

With that, Jess and Rory went to where they were sleeping, but neither of them shut their eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

Jess awoke at 4am to the sound of sobbing coming from the couch. "Rory?" He said, wondering what was wrong. No answer came, she just started to cry harder. As he walked closer he noticed that she had a bottle of straight scotch in her hand, and she was gulping it from the bottle. "Hey, what's wrong?" He didn't know why she was hurting but he knew he had to help her, he couldn't leave her like this. He took the bottle out of her hands and put his arm around her, sitting down next to her.

"I screwed up," she choked. "You have no idea how badly."

Jess sighed. "You're okay. I know you dropped out of Yale, I know you were living with your grandparents, but you'll figure it out."

Rory shook her head. "No. That's not all I did." She noticed the confused look on his face, so she continued to talk. "When you came to Yale, I was already in a really bad place. I'd just had to drop a class, and I was upset because I was failing and I didn't know what to do. After I said no to you, I started on a downward spiral. The week after, I... I slept with Dean. Yes, he was still married. But I still slept with him because I'm an idiot. I had it in my head that he was my guy first, and mom and I got into a massive fight over it. I left to go to Europe with my Grandma, and I left him a note saying that I was grateful but I couldn't be with him because he was married. I slipped into his jacket, but of course Lindsay found it. She started throwing his stuff out the window and everything, and her mom and her cornered mom and I and told us we belonged in hell and that we were horrible people and everything. Dean and I had such a messy relationship after that. I was at a party with my grandparents and I started hanging out with Logan and his friends, he came to pick me up at 8.30 but I came out way later, everyone followed me out and we were all drunk and Dean broke up with me. My grandparents separated, and at their vowel renewal Logan and I hooked up in the back room. I was the best man, and after my jacket was off and my shirt half unbuttoned, mom came in and said that Grandma wanted a photo of the wedding party."

"Oh, god!" Jess grimaced. "Continue..."

Rory was still sobbing, but she was trying to get it together. "Logan and I ended up together, and... we stole a Yacht."

"You WHAT?!"

"I spent a night in jail, and Logan's friends threw us a felon party. I went to all his friends parties, I had to herd them into the car and do up their seatbelts when they got too drunk to do it themselves. I changed, Jess. I'm not the girl you knew when you were 17. I'm a failure. I... I can't do it. I've changed. I ruined my life. I'm a complete failure." She cried some more and let her head fall into Jess' lap. "I can't do it. I can't do it."

Jess had only just realised how ruined Rory was. What this guy had done to her, it was unforgivable. He had ruined a perfect girl. He had no idea that Rory was crying on Jess' lap, realising that she had failed. That he had changed her. "It's okay, Rory. We can fix this. I promise, we'll get you back on track." Rory looked up at him, and before he knew it her arms had swung around his neck and her face was pressed into his shoulder. She was still crying, but he decided that she would be okay. The hug lasted about 20 seconds, before Rory pulled away and smiled at him, her lip trembling. "Jess?"

"Yeah?"

"Why are you... why are you being so nice to me?"

Jess' facial expression changed from concerned to suprised. "What do you mean?"

A tear traced its way down her cheek and fell into his lap. "I wasn't exactly the most understanding or nice to you last time we saw each other. I thought... I thought you would still be mad about me not agreeing to come with you." Rory realised how stupid that sounded. "I mean... I didn't think you would pine, of course you wouldn't pine. Why would you be pining for me? I said no. What am I thinking. You wouldn't still be upset. You would be over it so-"

Jess cut off her rambling. "I was upset for a long time. Yes, I pined for you. I don't like to admit it, but I did. I was mad, but I was mostly confused. I thought you would want to come, so I was suprised when you said no. But I'm not holding a grudge, because if you had come it never would have worked. But, now..."

Rory backed away. She didn't mean to start a relationship with him. "Now, what?"

"Nothing."

"No Jess. You were going to say something. Talk to me."

Jess breathed in and out deeply. Talking really, _really_ wasn't his thing. "I thought maybe you wanted to try again. This time, were finally in the same place at the same time. I thought we could-"

"Yes." Rory didn't plan to say anything, but her heart and her mouth had a split second conversation without involving her brain.

Jess' eyes widened. "What?"

Rory took a shaky breath. "Yes. I would like to try again. With you."

Jess smiled. He had been waiting for this ever since the last time he saw her. When he saw her smile back, he realised just how happy he was with the situation, and he was glad to see that she was finally happy again too. Before he could react in any _romantic_ way to her agreeing to try again, she squealed and launched herself at him, and they flattened against the couch, slowly falling asleep with their arms around each other.


	3. Chapter 3

Jess awoke to a squeal coming from Rory next to him. He sat up quickly, noticing that she wasn't next to him anymore. "What's wrong?!" He heard giggling from below him, and saw Rory on the floor.

"I fell off the couch," she giggled. Jess shook his head, pulling her up. She sat on his lap.

"So, what's in the agenda today, Ror?" He asked.

"Well," she said, "You're going to do your regular work."

"I can-" he started.

"No, you're going to work, I'm going to get online and look for a job, then apply back to Yale."

Jess nodded. "Ah, good idea."

"I'm full of good ideas!" Rory said indignantly, causing Jess to roll his eyes.

"Okay, Ror," he said. "I'm going to get ready for work, okay?"

"Okay." She pulled out her laptop, and started to type.

Over the next few days, Rory and Jess had a fairly normal relationship. Rory was still sleeping on the couch, but as the days went on she knew that her and Jess were getting closer and closer.

"Hey, it's getting late. I'm gonna go to bed. Night, Rory"

Rory brushed his cheek. "Goodnight Jess."

They both went to bed, but after a few minutes Rory got restless. She walked across the living room, standing above Jess' bed.

"Jess?"

Jess rubbed his eyes. "Yeah?"

"I can't sleep," she said, sitting on the bed with her hand on his chest.

"Do you wanna stay here?" He asked, and Rory nodded. He pulled her under the covers, resting his chin on the top of her head, her listening to his gentle heartbeat. She put her arms around him, and after about 10 minutes of comfortable silence her breath evened out, signalling her falling asleep. He pushed her hair off her face, before drifting off as well.

Rory woke to the feeling of Jess getting off the bed, and in response she groaned and put her arms around him tighter. "Rory, jeez," he said, laughing. "I'm going to the bathroom, I'm not running away!" He looked down at her, and he noticed her entire body relax, but her grip was still tight on him, and he realised that she was scared of just that - she thought that he would leave her while she was asleep. "Rory, I promise, I won't leave you. Just relax, okay?"

"Okay. I'm going to talk to a newspaper here in Philly, see if I can get a job there after I graduate from Yale."

"I'm sure you'll find a place. Anyone would be happy to have you, Ror."

"Thanks, Jess," she said. She planted a kiss on his cheek and let him go, pulling out her laptop.

After a couple of hours looking, Rory finally found something interesting. "Hey, Jess?" She yelled, and he got up from his desk.

"Yeah?"

"I found something. It's an online magazine, they're hiring."

Jess' face formed a rare smile. "Rory, that's great! Are you going to apply?"

"I've been on the phone to Jackie, the manager. I told her I was graduating soon, and you'll never guess what happened next..."

Jess put his hands on her shoulders. "What happened next?" Rory's eyes glittered.

"I got a job! Just like that! I don't even know why they -"

"They saw your talent," he said, walking backwards towards his desk with Rory's hand in his own. "They knew you were totally worth having. I'm so proud of you, Rory!" after about 20 seconds of silence, Jess started to eye Rory suspiciously, noting that she looked as if she was about to pounce.

"I can't believe I have a job!" She squealed, leaping at him, his spinning chair rolling to the wall. Her lips met his, and they both fell deeply into the moment. She ran her hands through his hair, pulling him as tight as she could. He returned the favour, holding her face in his hands. The moment lasted what felt like forever, and when Rory finally pulled away, Jess gave her a tight smile. "You seem happy," he said. "Are you happy?"

Rory kept her hands around his neck, still perched on his lap. "I'm happy. I'm really happy."

They sat in comfortable silence for a while, before Rory couldn't take it anymore. She had a burning question, and she couldn't evade it any longer. "Jess..."

"Rory?"

She took a deep breath, knowing that this question would sadly most likely ruin their moment. "Why did you... why did you leave?" He could have sworn he saw tears in her eyes, so he kept an arm around her.

"I thought I was hurting everyone around me while I was there. I tried to buy tickets for the prom, but they told me to go see the Principal. He told me I couldn't buy tickets, and I asked why. He told me I wasn't going to graduate. It felt like a punch in the gut. I had the smartest, most amazing girlfriend in the world, and the only things she ever asked me for were to graduate high school and take her to the prom," he explained, avoiding eye contact. "That was the day of Kyle's party. I knew I'd disappoint you by telling you, and I didn't know how else to show you I loved you other than, well, taking your virginity I guess. It seems idiotic now, and I know I could have made a better choice, but I was a person who used their actions rather than their words. For once in my life, my actions had consequences that I wouldn't have had to face if I had simply used my words. If I had just told you, _told you_ that I loved you, Dean and I wouldn't have gotten into that fight. I couldn't bare to see your face when I told you I wasn't graduating, so I didn't tell you at all. I just left, not caring where. When I came back to get my car, I realised that this was my chance to tell you how I felt, and I was just hoping that you stil felt the same way. But you didn't."

"Jess..." she had tears streaming down her face, and Jess wouldn't meet her gaze, but she knew she had to look into his eyes. She turned him so he could look at her, and sighed. "I felt the same way. When you left, I was so upset. I thought I was doing the right thing, leaving Dean for you, but then when you left I realised that maybe I should have gone for the safer option, staying with him rather than being with you," she said, and as she saw the hurt look in his eyes, she continued, "I had some of my happiest moments when I was with you, Jess. But I realised after you left that I wanted stability, and you didn't have it. When you came to Stars Hollow at the firelight festival and told me you loved me, I had thought of so many ways I could answer that, knowing that I had to turn you down because you didn't have to stability I needed. Really, it was nothing personal, I just realised we weren't right for each other. But now... you seem more stable to me. You seem ready for a commitment. Are you?"

Jess nodded. "Rory, I'm different now. I'm working full time, I live under a stable roof. I have a healthy lifestyle, I don't use my smart mouth to get what I want, I work for it. To have someone like you to love is the most amazing privilege thrown into this mix, I can't -"

"Jess," Rory said, wide eyed. "You said _someone to love_."

"Rory..." Jess said on a breath.

"Yeah?"

"I... I love you."

Rory pushed herself against him, with force and gentleness as one. After pulling away from the kiss, her blue doe-eyes stared into his soul. "Jess... I've loved you since we were 17."


	4. Chapter 4

"Well that's good, because I have too." He winked at her, and she buried her face into his chest.

"I'm pretty happy about this desision."

Jess smirked. "And what decision is that?"

"That I'm here. That you're here. That we're both breathing? That we're both here together, I guess. I mean, like we have each other and we're not planning on ditching each other any time soon."

Jess laughed, "You definitely have a way of making explanations way longer than they need to be."

Rory kissed his neck. "Oh, shut up."

"Hey, I'm a saint. I only speak the truth!" He held his hands up in a fake surrender. When he found Rory glaring at him, he cupped her chin in his hand. "Come here, you," he said in a voice just above a whisper, before making them both rise from his chair, making their way to the bed, lips still locked. As they sat on the bed, descending to be horizontal, Rory realised the déjà vu of the situation. This room even looked a little like Kyle's parents room. Before the could register what she was doing, she pulled away. Feeling as if he knew what was coming, Jess didn't push his luck.

"Jess."

"Rory..."

"It's Kyle's party. All over again."

"I... I know.

"I thought you would be my first time," she started. "About a week before Kyle's party, I talked to mom. I realised that it felt like it could... happen, with you. It just feels weird that this happened after Dean." Jess clinched his fists after she mentioned her exes name, but didn't say anything.

"Do you want to stop?"

"No!" Rory exclaimed. "I want to... _do_ it. Wow, that sounded so childish."

"Almost feels like we're 17 again, hey?"

"Except that this time we both know what we want, right? We want each other."

"That we do."

Jess was gentle at first, only grazing Rory's lips, but within 0.5 seconds they were deeper than they had ever been. Rory ran her fingers through his hair, as he traced a finger down her spine, causing her to let out a soft groan. He had waited for this perfect moment with this perfect girl since they first got together, and it was more to him that he ever dreamed it would be. Just as things were about to get interesting, Rory's cell rang. "Just ignore it," Jess murmured, as Rory tried to sit up. But the phone just rang, and rang, and rang...

"This is bullshit, who needs to talk to you that badly?"

"I'm gonna get it, or I'll have ringing in my ears for all eternity." She picked up the phone, seeing "NO CALLER ID" flash across the screen. "Who is it?" Jess asked, and Rory shrugged in response, picking up the phone.

"You couldn't have waited another half hour - how the hell did you get this number?! I changed my number so you wouldn't bother me!"

"Who is it?" Jess asked, immediately knowing the answer as sadness consumed Rory's eyes. "Let me talk to him."

"Jess..."

Jess took the phone just as Logan yelled, "Oh my god, you ran off with him!"

"Get the hell off her back, Huntzberger," Jess said sternly. "You're many things, but you aren't stupid."

"Thanks?" Logan said, confused.

"You're not stupid, so you would never think that you have a chance in hell with her now, do you?"

"Put Rory on the phone."

"What you gonna do to me if I don't? Send me a letter insulting my lack of a Porsche?"

"Go fuck yourself."

"Wow, strong language for a guy with his head up his ass," Jess countered.

"Is Rory telling you to say all this? Little princess needs a strong protector?"

" _You_ were her boyfriend at one point," Jess was yelling now, Rory's eyes spilling tears. "You're seriously telling me you never protected her?"

"No way. She never needed help."

"Your head is shoved _way_ further up than I thought, man."

"What, you a doctor? I don't need your diagnosis for trying to keep you away from my girlfriend, you bastard!"

" _Ex."_

Excuse me?"

Jess laughed. "Okay, forget what I said about you not being stupid. I know what you told her. You defended your own pride when your girlfriend knew she was in trouble. The fact that she means absolutely nothing to you might be a contributing factor to the reason she's bawling her eyes out right - Rory, are you okay?!" Jess hung up the phone, hearing the yelling from the other end, rushing over to a coughing, retching Rory.

"I'm not ok..." she was super pale and sweaty, she was shaking like a leaf and was so exhausted that when Jess offered her a hand she could barely take it. Everything was fine, he was helping her make her way out of the bathroom, when he saw the blood on the toilet seat and without thinking dropped Rory onto the tile floor and rushed over to it. "Rory, what the hell happened here?"

"I don't want to talk about it," she managed weakly. "Please Jess - I need a doctor, hospital, something, I don't care!" She was crying now, tears tracing their way down her cheeks, her mascara running causing her to look like a zombie.


End file.
